1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a slide rule guide relating to a multiple segment fly fishing leader, and more particularly, to a guide that may be readily used by a fisherman to ascertain when tying up a tapered multiple section fishing leader, the number of sections, the length and diameter of each section dependent upon the overall length of the leader to be formed and the tippet size.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dry and wet fly fishing for trout and other game fish is enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world and the art of dry fly fishing particularly has become highly sophisticated. In the casting of a dry fly, it is necessary, particularly when fishing clear water, to employ a monofilament or natural gut translucent leader as an extension of the fishing line itself. The butt end is of large diameter and smaller than the diameter of the fly line to which it is tied or otherwise attached. The end of the leader remote from the line is the tippet and is of the smallest diameter, and the dry fly or wet fly as the case may be is tied directly thereto.
Attempts have been made to manufacture fly leaders of continuous monofilament whose diameter varies so as to produce a tapered fly leader. Such fly leaders have not provided the desired action to the line, leader and fly, both during casting and laying the fly, the leader and the line on the water at the termination of casting.
Historically, tapered fly leaders have been constructed of natural gut segments or sections which are tied together by an appropriate knot with the individual sections being of constant diameter, and wherein the fisherman or manufacturer tieing up the leader has selected given lengths of natural gut or monofilament plastic material of different diameters and has created leaders of a desired length having a preselected tippet diameter, that is, a diameter at the point where the leader is tied to the fly and which is smaller than the other sections. As the water, particularly in the summer time, gets lower and clearer, it is necessary to employ leaders of extended length and tippet sizes which are much smaller in order to fool the game fish into believing that the fly is unattached. The size of the tippet is determined partially by the size and fighting ability of the game fish, with the smaller size tippets being employable for the smaller fish.
Further, in order to create a fly leader which delivers the fly as naturally as possible to the water and permits the leader to act as a true and straight extension of the line, the leader section closest to the line, that is, the butt end of the leader, must be somewhat stiffer than those sections near the fly end or tippet end of the leader. This is another reason why continuous monofilament tapered leaders have not been found to be satisfactory in the field. This had lead to the return to hand tieing of leaders by sections of leader material of particular size and flexibility. Thus, leader sections which come in given diameter may vary in length and also may vary in flexibility, there being two general types known as "soft" and "hard" test material. The breaking strength of leader material is inverse to hardness. The harder material tends to break easier than the soft material for a given diameter.
For these reasons, it is difficult for a fisherman or even a manufacturer manufacturing hand tied leaders to properly select the diameter size and the leader section length for a multiple section tapered leader even though he may know the overall length of leader desired and the tippet size which determines the ultimate breaking strength.